Chapter 196: Slaughter (II)
Chapter 196: Slaughter (II)
“Kill!”
“Charge!”
“Mine, mine, it’s mine!”
“It’s mine! The Ascension Immortal Grass is mine!”
“It’s mine!”
In an instant, those cultivators had completely forgotten the bizarre death of Captain Li from moments before. Their eyes were bloodshot, their gazes fixed solely on the small red flower atop Red Captain Wang’s head.
“Hehe, looks like I’m about to have a full meal!”
The smile on Red Captain Wang’s face grew even more excited. Simultaneously, the little red flower on his head danced even more vigorously, as if it too could smell the delicious aroma in the air.
Naturally, not all cultivators mindlessly surged forward in a frenzied rush towards Red Captain Wang, unaware of the danger. Seven or eight cultivators, emanating dense, oppressive auras at the Mid Core Formation Stage like Captain Wang, remained watching from a distance without charging immediately.
These cultivators had survived to this day and achieved their current status by exercising extreme caution. While tempted, they did not act impulsively. Especially after noticing the cultivators who had agitated others vanish along with Jia Longwu, their expressions drastically changed. They secretly conversed amidst the chaos.
“The Ascension Immortal Grass is mine!”
At that moment, a cultivator in the Mid Foundation Building Stage, being the closest to Red Captain Wang, was the first to charge forward. He madly shouted, activating the Spirit Artifact in his hand as he swung it towards Red Captain Wang’s head.
“Hehe!”
Seeing this man, the cold smile at the corner of Red Captain Wang’s lips twisted slightly.
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
Suddenly, the small red flower atop his head shook violently. As the flower shook, Red Captain Wang’s mouth gaped wide open, and his scarlet tongue shot out again, directly probing into the mouth of the Mid Foundation Building Stage cultivator.
“Ah!”
The Mid Foundation Building Stage cultivator’s gaping mouth hadn’t even had a chance to close before the tongue plunged inside. It delved deeper, burrowing relentlessly down the cultivator’s esophagus.
Gulp, gulp!
The same scene repeated—the tongue contracted and expanded, writhing frantically, voraciously devouring everything inside the cultivator’s body.
What’s happening to me?
As the tongue consumed relentlessly, the madness in the Mid Foundation Building Stage cultivator’s eyes began to fade, replaced by a sudden, eerie calm. But this peace lasted only an instant.
In that fleeting moment, visions flooded his mind. He saw his childhood self, constantly clinging to his grandparents, who never ceased trying to make him laugh.
He saw the horrifying moment later, when a band of brigands murdered his grandparents, and how he narrowly escaped, hidden inside a water jar.
He saw himself stumbling upon a wordless celestial tome by chance, accidentally stepping onto the path of cultivation towards the Immortal Realm.
He saw himself facing life-or-death trials repeatedly, each time scraping through, until he finally became a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
…
“Ah, noooo!”
After that brief calm came profound despair. He wanted to scream, but no sound would come.
Gulp!
The long, scarlet tongue retracted from his body. And in that moment of dissociation, it seemed to him that another version of himself was coiled upon that terrifying tongue.
Bang!
He felt as if everything before his eyes went black and he couldn’t see a thing. But in that darkness, there was a sudden flash of light, and then the world turned pure white; after that, there was nothing left.
“Heh heh, the more painful a soul, the more beautiful! The purer a soul, the more delicious! I never thought a small Foundation Establishment Cultivator could be so beautiful and delicious! White—his soul is white, I like such a soul!”
The Mid Foundation Building Stage Cultivator’s body became a desiccated corpse, falling straight to the ground. Red Captain Wang didn’t even spare a glance, slowly closing his eyes and constantly chewing in his mouth, as if savoring something delicious; then his throat moved, swallowing it down.
Buzz buzz buzz!
The little red flower on Red Captain Wang’s head seemed to become a hint more vibrant in that instant.
“Kill!”
“Mine, mine!”
“The Ascension Immortal Grass is mine!”
As for the death of that Mid Foundation Building Stage Cultivator, those frenzied Cultivators ignored it completely. Their eyes were fixed only on that little red flower. In that moment, they sensed it had become even more vibrant, and each one grew wilder with frenzy.
“Come, come! I love this taste, I love the taste of souls! The more painful, the more I like it! Ah ha ha, ah ha ha!”
Red Captain Wang seemed to have tasted a delicacy. Seeing so many densely packed Cultivators charging toward him, he felt no fear at all; instead, excitement flared brighter in his eyes.
Whiz whiz whiz!
However, just as the vast majority of Cultivators were blindly rushing over, several Escape Lights shot straight toward the outer edges.
Those were Mid Core Formation Stage Cultivators, the strongest forces in this hastily assembled ragtag band. Because it was organized by Jia Longwu, they had willingly stayed in the shadows. Naturally, there was also the reason of Young Master Ma. Now, after sniffing out danger, they had surely fled. But Red Captain Wang didn’t bother with them—Core Formation Cultivators were just ants in his eyes. His target was Young Master Ma, but he had to regain his strength first.
Squelch!
Opening his mouth again, his tongue lunged toward the nearest Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
“Ah!”
Similarly, that Cultivator only came to his senses at the moment of death, but it was all too late.
“No good—a painful soul, yet too filthy. Feels as awful as eating a fly—no, like eating a butterfly: pretty but unpleasant!”
“My Ascension Immortal Grass!”
Right then, another Late Foundation Building Stage Cultivator charged over, bellowing with madness filling his eyes.
“Ptooey!”
Although disgusted, Red Captain Wang spat, then extended his crimson tongue again toward that person.
Bang bang bang!
For a while, the area became a hellish battlefield. Desiccated corpses kept falling from the sky, landing on the ground and piling into a small mound. Meanwhile, Red Captain Wang’s facial expressions changed constantly: sometimes pleased, sometimes disgusted, sometimes mournful, sometimes sorrowful.
“Kill!”
“Charge!”
But those Cultivators showed no fear at all, still plunging forward relentlessly in waves.
…………
Just as the Spirit Annihilation Array resembled a full-scale hellish slaughter, Young Master Ma had already fled with Jia Longwu to beyond the array.
Jia Longwu stood there dazedly. She had always believed she’d experienced much and was exceptionally mature, yet faced with this situation, she remained utterly stunned.
Ignoring Jia Longwu, Young Master Ma slapped his Storage Pouch with one hand. A brown-yellow Storage Pouch flew out.
Buzzzzzz!
Once the pouch opened, countless tiny yellow insects instantly transformed into a yellow streak and shot into the giant array.
“Hmph, love feeding on souls, don’t you? Fine! I’ll let you gorge yourself!”
As the yellow insects flooded the array, Young Master Ma’s sneer deepened.
He slapped the Storage Pouch again. A palm-sized Compass Disk flew out. It expanded rapidly in the wind, growing in the blink of an eye into a massive Compass Disk over ten feet in diameter.
“All I meant to shoot was a deer, never expected a tiger! Hmph, tough luck for you!”
Seeing the Compass Disk emerge, a cold smirk played on Young Master Ma’s lips. He immediately channeled the Spiritual Energy within him and frantically tapped the disk.
Hummm…
As he tapped, the disk began to emit an eerie black glow. Simultaneously, the Spirit Annihilation Array before him transformed—turning a sinister crimson as an intense aura of murderous intent rolled forth.
“Kill!”
As the array shifted, Young Master Ma spat the single word coldly.
The moment “Kill” left his lips, the sixty-four Core Formation Cultivators serving as Array Eyes suddenly stiffened, their eyes glazing over as consciousness fled.
Yet even unconscious, they remained rigidly seated. Golden Cores shot out from their bodies, hovering about a foot above their heads. Torrents of Spiritual Energy gushed endlessly from the cores, pouring into the Spirit Annihilation Array.
With the Cultivators’ deaths, the Spirit Annihilation Array changed again. The dense, suffocating killing intent radiated outwards, palpable even beyond the array’s perimeter.
“Heh heh, Red Worm… Once I devour you, then swallow your brood one by one… Perhaps I will consume the Prime Soul. In less than a thousand years, I’ll return to the Divine Realm! Just endure ten thousand more years… Huang Biaozi, was it? Ma Xilu, was it? Heh heh… All of you will die!”
Feeling the shift within the array, a flush of unnatural color bloomed on Young Master Ma’s pallid skin. A ghastly green luminescence, like ghost-fire, flickered across his body.
This entire scheme was of his orchestration. Admittedly, his initial target had only been the Azure Dragon—though it masqueraded as a Big Yellow Dog, he’d instantly recognized its true form and secretly briefed Jia Longwu.
He never expected to encounter the Red Worm. But since fate offered it up, he felt no obligation to refuse. Sacrificing those low-level Cultivators meant nothing to him.
As for Jia Longwu? It wasn’t affection. Unease gnawed at him—the fear of exposure. With her as a scapegoat, he could still cling to the Wei Clan, that mighty sheltering tree.
Young Master Ma was, without doubt, a master tactician. Every piece moved at his command—save Wei Wuya.
He’d been certain Tang Jinbiao wouldn’t act rashly, certain he couldn’t kill Wei Wuya. That miscalculation alone created the flaw.
“Heh heh… Soon. Very soon… Ten thousand years. Ten thousand years! No—a Millennial Era of history will rewrite itself, starting with me!”
Convinced of success, the feverish flush on Young Master Ma’s face deepened. The ghostly green glow around him intensified.
Had the Red Captain Wang seen the emerald sheen now clinging to him, he might very well have flown into a desperate, murderous rage.
“Hmph, little girl. Rest easy. You’d better hope for luck.”
Young Master Ma snorted. A bolt of golden light shot straight into Jia Longwu’s mind. She let out a single, piercing shriek—then collapsed, unconscious, to the ground.
“Kill! Kill! Kill everything!”
He didn’t spare her a glance. Turning back to the Compass Disk, his face radiated manic glee…